It’s spring cleaning time! And that, my friends, is my closet. I’ve been in this apartment for 2 years now, and my closet is bursting at the seems. It has been overtaken by wedding supplies (all the boxes on the floor) and by outdated, old clothing (my high school graduation cap and gown is hidden in there somewhere … time to move on).
I have been itching to fix-up and organize my closet for awhile now. This is why:
- It’s unorganized and hinders my morning getting-beautified routine. I get frustrated when I can’t find things or when things that I thought were clean are not.
- It’s seriously out of date. Like many women, I wear maybe 1/3 of my closet.
- In order to be my most fabulous, most put-together, most organized self, I need to have an efficient, organized closet!
- I’m definitely not a minimalist, but I like the premise of the movement. “Stuff” is stressful. Especially too much stuff. Only owning and keeping what you need and use seems pretty smart and fabulous to me. I’d love to be the owner of one fine closet that harbors only what I need and what I use.
GOALS OF THE GREAT CLOSET MAKEOVER & CLEAN OUT:
- Donate everything that I don’t want/need/use and that is still in decent condition.
- Throw away everything that is old and in bad condition.
- Buy an over-the-door hook.
- Possibly move my chest of drawers (or some other storage unit) into closet.
- Leave only what I need and use.
- Become the owner of one awesome, organized closet.
Let’s take a closer look…
Notes:
- In the upper-right area, you can’t really read the caption, but it says “sweat/lounge clothes”. This is totally random, but I just have an area of clothes that I change into when I’m lounging around at home. Depending on the temperature or how I’m feeling, I lounge around in shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, sweat pants, or sweatshirts…this wide variety of lounge clothes usually ends up in a pile up on that shelf. It’s a totally random system, but that’s how I roll.
- I usually always have a running bag that I fill with clothes that I need to donate. As you can see, it’s getting kind of full AND I need to do a major run through on my current clothes and take those clothes to a Catholic Charities store.
- My wedding is taking over my apartment! My dining room is filled with all sorts of stuff including invitations, envelopes, bubbles, thank you cards, left-over save-the-dates, a frame to be signed at the reception, etc. etc. My closet, as you can see, is filled with all my accessories, all my honeymoon garb, and the 40 glass vases that we’ll use for centerpieces.
- Does anyone else still have their high school memorabilia? I seriously need to get rid of my cap and gown and my letter jacket.
- I have some favorite sweaters and jackets (and my robe) that I wear regularly that don’t go in our entryway closet (where we keep our coats), so I think I need to get an over-the-door hook (something like this) to hang these oft-used items on. Because right now they’re draped over anything and everything: my hanging clothes, my bed, my desk chair, sometimes the floor … whatevs.
- Okay, this may be unacceptable in the eyes of a home decorator, but I’m seriously thinking of putting my chest of drawers in my closet. It’s kind of inefficient that half of my clothes are back out in my room and my others are in the closet (and it makes it hard to get dressed in the dark when others are still sleeping). This may happen. Prepare yourself for this in the after pictures.
- Overall, my closet just needs to be thinned out. A good spring cleaning. I need to throw out all the crap that I’m not using (college comforter anyone?) and donate the stuff that can be used by others (college comforter anyone?). Lent is the perfect time to donate to help others that are less fortunate!
On tap for the next several days? Cleaning and organizing this disaster. If my closet looks somewhat better after that, I’ll probably post the results. 
- P.S. My shoes live in an entirely different closet. My shoes take up one entire closet. Granted, it’s not as big as this one (it’s technically a linen closet), but let’s just say that little nook may be the next victim of the great closet clean out.
- What are your best tips for maintaining an organized closet?
About B&B
Too funny– I am working on a post about conquering my closet beast as well– and my bureau is already in my closet.
Good luck with your project. I’m jealous that your closet is so much bigger than mine!
Glad to know I’m not alone on the bureau/chest of drawers in closet thing.
I think putting a chest of drawers in your closet is a great idea if it will fit. My boyfriend keeps his filing cabinet in his because there isn’t much room anywhere else. At the moment I have a shoe-rack in the bottom of mine but my chest of drawers is a couple of steps away and the clothes in my closet are my party dresses, jackets and a few blouses that crease like crazy if I fold them.
So jealous of how big your closet is! If mine was bigger, I wouldn’t be so good at clearing things out of it. Anyway, here’s my tip: as you wear your clothes, put them back with the hangers facing the wrong way. After about a month, you’ll easily see which clothes you aren’t wearing. Simple way to see and get rid of the stuff you aren’t using. Good luck!
That is the greatest tip of all time! Thanks!
I’d think twice before getting rid of the letter jacket – I know how much fun I had wearing my Dad’s for dress-up, and I’ve saved mine so my kids can enjoy the same experience.
You’re right … I’m gonna keep it. Dang it. lol
I like the 1 in, 1 out rule. After you organize and donate all the things you don’t use, make it a rule that before you bring something new into your closet you donate something else. This kept me from spending money when I didn’t need to. If I already love all of my clothes, I’m not going to make myself donate anything by bringing new clothes in. (I don’t use this rule for categories that I don’t have enough in – like blue jeans. I have one pair of blue jeans, so if I ever buy another, I’m not going to donate my one pair. But I do need to cap it.)
I also like the clothes hanger strategy to find out if you’re actually wearing your clothes as much as you think you are. Face all of your hangers in the same direction. When you wear something and hang it back up, turn that specific hanger in the opposite direction. At the end of the month, check to see how many outfits you didn’t wear and then decide if they’re really important enough to keep in your closet.
I’m not sure I can roll w/ the 1 in, 1 out rule, but I LOVE the turning the hangers the other way rule! Totally gonna use it!!
We got our tax money so we are having a total closet Make Over done by some overpriced professional closet organizer! I can’t wait. I do need to get rid of some things I don’t wear but it’s hard for me to do. I already got rid of a lot when we moved. HAPPY ORGANIZING!!
Ohhhh, that sounds amazing! Post results on your blog? Please?
I did a major closet clean out a few months ago and honestly haven’t bought any clothing since, but I think the best way to keep a cleaner closet is to follow the one in one out rule like Red said. Personally, I’ve limited myself to a certain number of hangers so if I buy something new something else needs to go so I can actually hang it!
Good luck on the clean out. It takes a few hours, but feels oh so liberating when you are done and everything is put back all nice and pretty!
P.S. – I’m glad that I’m not the only who organizes her clothes by the color. I find that it makes it a lot easier to find certain clothing I’m looking to wear. That is if I ever have something particular in mind….
I go thru the items in my closet about once a year and donate whatever feels out of date, I don’t need, etc. I also organized my items by type, like camis, long sleeves, etc. I am definately going to try that hanger the wrong way thing. Maybe I can dream up more outfits?
-Serendipity
For all of the hanging clothes, I keep this limited by the number of hangers I have. So after you clean out the old clothes figure out how many hangers that is and then don’t add more. That way you have to take out items if you want to add in something new. Pretty much like Red’s 1 in 1 out, just another way to look at it.
So great to hear that someone else has a “dedicated” shoe closet! I always feel like such a diva when people see my shoe closet, lol. I seriously need to go through my clothes closet though….not because I still have high school memorabilia (got rid of that a couple years ago, lol), but because I wear maybe 15% of the clothes I have. Either that, or I really need to start wearing more of my clothes!